We are young 61 and 71 year olds from Australia. We booked the cruise 9 months out because we had never cruised on a new ship...having done 17 prior cruises with had never been lucky enough to get a ship less than 5 years old. Also we had never been to the Baltics and Scandinavia and found the ittinery interesting.

We flew direct from Oz to Amsterdam clearing customs etc at 8.00am where we were met by the HAL people. We expected to wait for others to arrive on various flights but within an hour we were on the coach. I guess because of the time we did a scenic trip to the ship which was great getting there at about 10.30 amongst easily the earliest arrivals. BY 11.30 we were on the ship and at 12 noon sitting down to our first fantastic dining experience in the MDR.

Luggage arrived in the room by about 3.00pm creased and crumpled as one would expect after the long haul. Major criticism of the ship. There are no ironing facilities. Clothes have to be sent out to the laundry and although at a reasonable price to wash, press etc we were not guaranteed same day service. Also the clothes were clean and they didnt need washing again. Maybe knowing this, next time we will pack dirty clothes and just shove them in our bags and avail ourselves of the laundry package. Read more